Accident
by InuKagomeLuver4Eva
Summary: Bulma is working on a highly dangerous project when something goes horribly wrong. Severely injured, she struggles to escape the building but finds herself trapped beneath a piece of machinery. Will she be able to make it alive? Revised first chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**Due to a lot of confusion concerning a certain Saiyan prince, this story will be revised and the newer version be updated as soon as possible! Thanks to NNP, XDarkAngelOfLoveX, and blueflower 1594 for the reviews! I love you guys! **

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

Bulma Briefs sighed for the umpteenth time. Nothing was going according to plan, and even if something did, something else decided to break down or stop working.

"Stop piece of…that needs to go there…why is this over here? Kami, I'm going to start ripping out my hair at this rate…" The young woman growled out as she scooted underneath her latest project, wrench in hand and goggles snug against her eyes. Sticking her tongue out in concentration, Bulma began to rearrange various colored wires, cursing everything and everyone.

"Dr. Briefs, are you in here? I have the papers you asked for." A female voiced called out, startling Bulma from her infuriating task and causing her to jerk her head upwards and into the open panel door.

"Ouch…ah, Emily, thank you. You can just set them on the desk over there." Bulma said as she rubbed her head, wincing as pain ricocheted through her skull.

"My pleasure, Dr. Briefs. I'll be leaving now," The assistant Emily slightly bowed before leaving the scientist in silence once more. Sighing, Bulma crawled out from under the machine and stood up before patting the dust from her pant legs.

"Now let's see what these papers say…" Rustling through the papers, she found nothing that caught her interest until she stopped on the last page, a single sentence typed in bold lettering.

**DO NOT INFUSE HIGHLY COMBUSTABLE NITROGEN WITH LITHIUM. **

Bulma furrowed her brow at the words, confused by its lack of detail.

"Don't infuse nitrogen with lithium? Why would they put this on here? This thing doesn't even _have_ lithium in it. Huh, must be an error." The scientist just crumpled the last page up and tossed it over her shoulder and into the overflowing trashcan. Looking down at her watch, Bulma was surprised to see her lunch break had come and gone. "Must be because I've been working too hard."

Deciding it would be best to take a break, Bulma stretched her arms above her head, grunting a little when her back popped into place. She let her arms drop back down before arranging the remaining papers into a neat pile on her otherwise cluttered desk before heading towards the cafeteria to grab some lunch. As the sliding doors behind her clicked shut, a silent alarm began to emit from the machine she was working on, a dim red light flashing on and off from the control panel.

#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#

"That'll be $6.98, Dr. Briefs." The lunch woman said as she finished totaling up the cost of the meal. Handing the woman her Capsule Corp. card, Bulma waited patiently for the woman to ring up her lunch. Looking around the lunchroom, she noticed that only a few stragglers were left, but even they were finishing up and preparing to head back to their work.

"Here you go, Dr. Briefs. Enjoy your lunch!" The woman smiled as she handed Bulma her card back. Bulma took it with a small smile of her own before picking her tray up and moving to sit at an empty table in the corner of the room. As she sat down in the uncomfortable chair, her phone began to ring. Not even bothering to check to see who it was, she picked it up.

"Hi, Trunks, what's up? Is there something you need?"

"_Hi, mom. Nothing much, I was just wondering if you were gonna head home soon. Dads throwing a fit about the Gravity Room being broken again." _Trunks said through the receiver, Vegeta's angry voice shouting something from the background. Bulma sighed as she felt a headache coming on.

"Sorry, honey, but I may not be home at all tonight. This project has gotten me so tied up that if I don't catch up, I won't make it by the deadline. There should be plenty of food in the fridge if you get hungry."

"_Alright, thanks mom. Don't work too hard, mom." _Bulma smiled. Trunks always told her to never work too hard, especially when it came to overnight shifts.

"I'll try not to, Trunks. I love you, bye."

"_Love you too, bye mom." _Bulma ended the call and just held the phone in her hand, staring at the screen. Her son was always calling and ensuring she was doing well, always reminding her to be safe when she worked on dangerous projects. It warmed her heart to know someone was always worrying about her. Well, Vegeta cared but he seldom showed it and always got angry when people, especially Bulma, bugged him about it.

"I better hurry and eat so I can get home as soon as possible." Digging into her pasta, the scientist went over the things remaining to do. The project needed to be tested, first and foremost, and that would take some time considering the control panel kept malfunctioning and wires kept falling out of place. When she had first begun the highly top-secret project, she was unsure of it. The top scientists, even higher than her, had insisted that this would be a great breakthrough in the field of science. They had come up with the idea that combining nitrogen and atom particles would create the most powerful source of energy on the planet, possibly the universe. Nevertheless, there were always loopholes, and this case was no exception. Bulma had spent hours upon hours researching the consequences of combining highly combustible and split atoms, only to come up with nothing. Of course, Bulma had thought, there were no answers to it just yet because no one had ever tried to do it.

And considering how dangerous it was, the scientist wasn't surprised no one had dared to try it. It could lead to serious injury. Or worse.

Finishing up her apple and bottled water, Bulma stood up, her chair screeching loudly against the floor as she did so, and grabbed her tray before walking over and dumping the contents into the trashcan. With her stark white lab coat floating behind her and her heels clacking loudly against the tile flooring, Bulma swiftly made her way back to her lab area, soft blue curls bouncing through the air. Coming to a stop in front of her door, she prepared to punch in her code when she was stopped.

"Dr. Briefs, I hate to interrupt you, but do you have a moment? We would like to show you the particle gun that is in its final stages of work." A man stood beside her, his hands stuffed into his coat pockets as he waited for an answer.

"Ah, Dr. Benson, that's fantastic news! Of course, I'll check out the particle gun. Have there been any malfunctions with it?" Bulma asked as she stepped away from her lab, her blue eyes lighting up with interest. Dr. Benson smiled and the two continued to talk animatedly about the particle gun, ignorant of the alarm sounding from the other side of Bulma's lab door.

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

Trunks sighed as he tried to ignore his rampaging father, body slouched down on the couch.

"That damned woman, she needs to hurry up and fix the damn Gravity Room! How am I supposed to beat Kakkarot if I become a giant flabby blob? When that woman gets back, I swear I'm going to—!"

"_Dad_, mom said she may not be back tonight. Can't you just go train in the mountains or something?" Trunks groaned out right before he was flung from the couch, his small body rolling a few times before he landed on his back, Vegeta looming over him.

"Well, why don't _you_ learn to not be such a wimp?" The Prince of Saiyans growled out, his muscular arms crossed over his chest menacingly. Trunks felt the back of his neck crawl as he rolled over and stared up at his father.

"I'm not a _wimp_." The young half-Saiyan felt as if he had just dug his own grave as his father let a smirk rise on his face, his Ki flaring around him dangerously.

"_Prove_ it."

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

"As the particles travel through the tube, two magnets charge them up to where they begin moving at a supersonic speed. Now, once they move up to the containment tube, waiting to be pushed through the nozzle of the gun, a small stream of nitrogen mixes with the particles, creating a powerful yet deadly blast of energy." Dr. Benson explained excitedly, holding up the gun up for Bulma to see. Like a child in a candy shop, Bulma grabbed it and examined every inch of it, excitement on her face.

"This is _astounding_, Dr. Benson! I never thought the day would come when this sort of technology would be created!" Bulma squealed as she placed it back onto its stand, ogling over its gleaming silver chrome finish, intricate black lines zigzagging and crisscrossing across the chrome to form the words **Project Xenon**.

"Well, we couldn't have done it without your research notes, Dr. Briefs. None of this would have been possible without you and your dedication to science." Her fellow scientist watched with amusement as Bulma blushed and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Aw, it was nothing. Just dedication and the love for science, nothing more than that." Bulma laughed before checking her watch, her jaw dropping in shock.

"Oh my, it's already past 3! I need to hurry and finish my work so I can get home tonight! Thank you for showing me this, Dr. Benson, but I need to leave." Saying a quick goodbye, Bulma hurried down the hallway back towards her lab, heels clicking loudly against the tile flooring. She skidded to a halt outside of her door, barely regaining her balance from the sudden stop, the scientist punched in her number, allowed the eye scanner to scan her eye, and placed her hand on the reader, sighing in relief as a bell alerted her everything was accepted. As the door opened, multiple things alerted the young woman something was very wrong. The red flashing lights were a dead give away, but so was the loud blaring of the contamination alarm. Jumping down the steps, Bulma ran over to the control panel, alarmed as even more warning signals began to pop up, lighting the panel up with a mixture of colors and words.

"What in the world happened? It wasn't like this when I left!" She began punching codes into the machine, hoping to bypass the alarms and shut down the machine. When a message popped up on the screen, Bulma felt her heart stop dead in her chest.

**SELF DESTRUCTION IN FIVE MINUTES**

"Uwah, how did this happen?" Bulma cried as she fell to her knees, yanking the underside panel off its hinges before sticking her head underneath it. She began ripping wires from their ports, sweat beading on her neck as she jammed one of the thick wires into a port labeled 'Shut Down'. The seconds seemed tense as the wailing sirens soon died down, the red lights the only alert remaining. Wiping her forehead with the back of her wrist, Bulma let out a heavy breath, crawling out from underneath the machine.

A pounding on the door startled her and she quickly jerked to her feet, oil smudges and dust caking her lab coat, arms, and face.

"Dr. Briefs, are you in there? We got news that alarms were going off in your lab. Dr. Briefs, are you alright?" Emily's voice sounded muffled through the door, her fist pounding on the door. Walking over to the door, Bulma opened it and was surprised to see the other scientists all scrambling to leave the building, panic rising in the air.

"Emily, everything is fine in here. What's going on? Why is everyone evacuating the building? Is there an emergency?" Bulma's voice began to rise a few octaves, panic evident in her voice.

"Dr. Briefs, we need to leave immediately! The scanners have detected high levels of radiation coming from this wing of the building! You need to—!" A loud explosion erupted from the hallway Bulma was down just mere minutes ago, the shockwave knocking Emily off her feet while Bulma flew backwards into her lab. Screams erupted as a plume of fire and smoke shot down the hallway, unlucky scientists were caught in the blast and incinerated.

"Oh my Kami, Emily!" Bulma croaked out as she shakily sat up, smoke filling her lungs as a stream of blood trickled down her forehead. Her vision blurred as she struggled to stand, her body crumpling to the ground once more as her energy left her. Through her blurry eyes, she saw something rolling down the stairs towards her, the soft clinking alerting her it was a bottle of some sort. As it stopped within reaching grasp, Bulma slowly reached out and grabbed it, her hands shaking violently as she brought it towards her. The words **Lithium** on it rang throughout her mind and in panic, threw it away from her. The sound of the bottle breaking brought her to her senses and she looked behind her, dread filling her chest as she noticed where the bottle had smashed. The bottles contents had smashed directly over the nitrogen fuel line, small sparks jumping as the two liquids merged.

"Oh Kami…" Bulma breathed out, struggling to move away from the sparking machine, her nails digging into the floor as she began to inch forward. As her hand moved to pull herself forward, something buzzed against her hand and she dragged it towards her face. Her cell phone continued to buzz, the screen flashing the word **Vegeta** on it.

Relief flitted across her face as she pressed down on the green button, connecting the call. As soon as she did though, her husbands angry voice blaring through the receiver.

"_WOMAN, WHEN WILL YOU GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND FIX THE GRAVITY ROOM! Your weak, pathetic son can't even put up a good fight against me!" _Vegeta shouted through the phone, an image of his snarling face flitting across Bulma's mind.

"Ve…ge…ta…" She said weakly before going into a coughing fit, the smoke becoming almost unbearable to her.

"_Speak clearly, Woman! And stop that coughing, it's annoying!" _Vegeta growled over the phone, slightly confused as to why she sounded so weak and pathetic. A loud explosion erupted from behind Bulma and she felt her body flying through the entrance of her lab, a bloodcurdling scream projecting from her throat as she slid across the ground, machinery debris raining down around her. Her body felt like it had been hit by truck, set on fire, and then hit by another truck. A warm liquid trickled into her mouth and she began to choke on it, her body twitching as she struggled to breath. Her head was ringing painfully, the world around her spinning like clothes in a washer. Determined to continue living, Bulma slowly and painfully began to drag herself backwards, feeling as if Death itself was watching her with a sinister smile. Her arms ached as she dragged herself backwards a few more feet before collapsing, lungs burning painfully from the effort. At that point, everything seemed surreal. She had gotten up and done the same morning routine; she got up, stretched, picked out her outfit for the day, changed, did her make up and hair, walked down the hallway to make sure Trunks was up, and once he was, made her way down the stairs to start breakfast, greeted Vegeta with a kiss, grabbed her briefcase and coffee before making her way to the car. It was the same routine, every single day, and she wouldn't have it any other way. So what was the point in giving up now? She had a family back home waiting for her; a family that loved her.

And she'd be damned if she didn't at least try to survive for the sake of her family.

Sucking in a deep breath, Bulma forced her body to stand, slamming into the nearby wall as her legs began to give out.

"Damnit…I won't…give in…just yet!" She growled out as she slammed her fist against the wall, not cringing the slightest as pain shot through her fist. She began to sweat profusely, the salty drops stinging her eyes. The sudden urge to cough overcame her and she doubled over, blood splattering the ground. Taking a few uneven breaths, Bulma raised her head, looking for a way out. She spotted the emergency stairs that led to an emergency door. If she remembered correctly, the door would lead to the underground parking lot. Her car was just around the corner from the door. With her new motivation, the scientist staggered her way to the door, blood smearing against the walls as she moved. The pounding in her head became worse as blood seeped from her body, pooling on the once white tiles. Her vision swam and she found herself slamming into the emergency exit door, the force causing the door to swing open and her body to slam down onto the concrete landing.

"O-ouch…alright, this is an improvement…" Bulma grunted as she grasped the railing of the stairs, pulling her broken and weary body towards the two flights of stairs. Another explosion racked the entire floor and a wave of heat expanded throughout the area. As the wave hit the scientist, she felt her skin beginning to burn.

Letting out a cry of pain, Bulma began to move down the stairs slowly when the floor began to shake, sending her body tumbling down the rubber-coated stairs and onto the platform below. It seemed like ages before she felt like she was able to move.

'This is…the _worst_ day…of my life…' She thought bitterly as she found the energy to crawl towards the second set of stairs, the lights flickering rapidly before shattering, plunging her into darkness.

"FUCK!" Her voice echoed throughout the building, her voice becoming raw instantly.

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

Trunks flopped down on the couch, exhausted after getting the crap beaten out of him by his own father.

"Should've kept my mouth shut…" he muttered under his breath, rubbing the large bump on his head bitterly before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. As the screen flickered to life, it immediately changed to the news, panic and chaos ensuing in the parking lot of some corporate building.

"_This is Jane Demure reporting live from the Capsule Corporation parking lot, where a sudden explosion has destroyed the entire northern side of the research building. Scientist Dr. Benson is here to tell us about what happened." _The woman turned to the tall scientist standing beside her, her microphone aimed at his mouth.

Trunks felt his heart fall from his chest. The northern side of the building? Wasn't that where his mother's lab was?

"_Yes, well, our sensors indicated a large radioactive presence expanding rapidly from one of our projects. Unfortunately, we figured out too late that it was growing rapidly, beyond even our control. My condolences go out to the families of those lost in the explosion." _Dr. Benson stated somberly, pushing the microphone away as he walked off camera, the news reporter slightly stunned at the sudden leave. Turning back to the camera, she continued.

"_Hazmat squads are currently en route to Capsule Corporation, encouraging those inside of the building when the explosion happened to __**stay put**__ until they are tested for radiation. We will continue to stay here until further news—wait, it seems the emergency squad has arrived!" _The camera swiveled around to show the newly arrived ambulances and fire trucks, the firefighters instantly moving to get out the hoses and axes. _"It seems they are preparing to enter the building! If what my information says is correct, then there are still two scientists still missing; Emily June and Dr. Bulma Briefs. We will keep you updated on the latest news!"_ Jumping to his feet, the young boy ran and stood in front of the television, his eyes locked onto the building as flames erupted from the windows, shooting high into the sky as more explosions rocked the building.

"Kami…mom…I need to get down there." Trunks sniffled as he stood back up, running to the Gravity Room to find his father. "Dad, open the door! It's an emergency! Mom's in danger! She's going to die!" He continued to pound on the door for a good few minutes before the door abruptly slid open, startling the young demi-Saiyan.

"What nonsense are you spewing out now, brat?" Vegeta snarled as he glowered down at his son, arms crossed over his chest in annoyance. Trunks sniffled once more before standing up straight, his fists clenched in front of his face.

"There was an explosion at Capsule Corp.! Mom's lab is in the northern end and now it's totally demolished! She's going to die!" Trunks cried, startling even the normally stoic Prince of Saiyans. It took a few seconds for Vegeta to let the news sink in before he was already marching towards the front door, stride purposeful.

"Trunks, stay here. I will be back shortly." Was all his father said before opening the door and shooting off into the sky, hi Ki raging wild as he headed towards Capsule Corp.

"Easy for you to say…" Trunks wiped his eyes with his sleeve before walking to the door his father had just exited, sensing his fathers Ki moving extremely fast. Two figures touched down next to him but he paid them no attention, his only focus on his fathers vanishing form. A hand landed on his shoulder and he reluctantly looked up to see Goku and Gohan looking at him with concern.

"Hey, Trunks, what's…" The older Saiyan stopped as he noticed the tears streaming down the young demi-Saiyans cheeks. Crouching down, Goku put his hands firmly on Trunks' shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes. "What happened, Trunks?"

Trunks bit his quivering lip as more tears streamed down his face.

"M-mom…she-she's…C-Capsule C-Corp…explosion…" Was all he managed to get out before he broke down, flinging himself into the older Saiyans arms.

"Capsule Corp. had an explosion?" Gohan muttered to himself, shocked at the news. After a few seconds, his mind clicked and he whipped his head towards the large smoke plume, his body searching for the Ki of his father's childhood friend. After a few seconds, he located it but felt his heart skip a beat. Vegeta was rocketing towards Bulma's fading Ki, his large energy indicating that he had gone into Super Saiyan mode.

"Trunks, I need you to listen to me very carefully. I'm going to leave you here with Gohan. I'm going to help Vegeta out, all right? Don't worry, we'll find her and bring her back safe and sound." Goku assured the demi-Saiyan, determination in his eyes. Sniffing, Trunks looked up at Goku, staring at him with big, watery eyes.

"R-really? You're gonna find mom?"

"I promise. Now, let's get you inside." Goku stood, nodding to his eldest son before shooting off into the skies, chasing after Vegeta.

"Come on, Trunks, let's go inside and wait for our dads to return." Gohan suggested quietly, herding the young boy back into the house. Before he entered, Gohan cast one last look in the direction that his father had gone in, worry evident on his face. "Come back safe, dad."

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

Once the lights had gone out, Bulma knew there was no way she was going to safely make it down the stairs without at least breaking _something_.

"This is just…_**fan-fucking-tastic**_! How am I supposed to get to the door in the _**dark**_?" Bulma screeched out as she lay on the stairway platform, the sounds of explosions echoing almost painfully in the enclosed area. She laid there for a few moments before an idea came to her. Fumbling for her lab coat pocket, which was now _beyond_ any saving, she shakily grabbed the small capsule she carried with her everyday. Pressing down the button, she tossed it down the stairs and covered her ringing ears as it exploded, a cloud of dust flying into the air. Removing her hands, she looked down the darkened stairs to see a large flashlight shining brightly against the wall.

'Score one for Bulma!' She cheered in her mind before dragging her self carefully down the stairs, making sure she stopped on each and every step to avoid tumbling down the stairs once more. She reached out and grabbed the flashlight, feeling more secure now that she had the artificial light in her hands. She began to move down the stairs once more, the light bouncing every which way, as she shuffled it between her hands.

'Alright, just…a few more…to go!' As soon as she reached the bottom platform, she collapsed onto it, breathing heavy. She would have let out a victory cry if she had the energy. But considering the Hell she had just been through, she was just glad to be alive. More explosions shook the building, the door just above her exploding off its hinges before slamming into the wall, debris raining down from the floor above. Jerking her head up, and regretting it due to a possible concussion and blood loss, Bulma felt her eyes widen as she watched a large chunk of her machine slam into the wall before bouncing off and roll down the stairs. Directly towards her. Panicking, Bulma used the last of her strength to jump out of the way right as it slammed into the wall, finally coming to a halt. The last thing she heard before she was engulfed in the darkness was a sickening crunch and immeasurable pain.

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

Vegeta surveyed the demolished building from the air, searching for his mates Ki. After a few moments of searching and coming up with nothing, the Prince of Saiyans growled, his Ki rising rapidly as his anger grew.

"Vegeta, calm down! She's still alive, but just barely. We don't want to cause a scene right now." Goku called out to him as the older Saiyan floated to a stop a few feet from his comrade, expression a mix between seriousness and distraught.

"Do **not **tell me to calm down, Kakkarot! Her Ki is no longer sensible! You and I both know that she is as good as gone!" Vegeta screamed back at him, the aura around him bursting out in all directions, sending even Goku back a good few feet.

"Listen to me, Vegeta! I can still sense her! Bulma is still alive! Now are you going to stay out here or are we going in there and _**saving her life**_. We're running out of time!" Goku shouted, making a split second decision to Instant Transmit to Bulma's current location. Locking onto Vegeta's arm like a vice grip, the older Saiyan snapped his fingers to his head, concentrating hard before the two vanished out of sight.

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

Where the two had reappeared was beyond them. It looked to be some sort of underground parking lot, but judging by the massive piece of machinery sticking out from the concrete wall, it looked more like a war zone.

"Why the hell did you bring us here, Kakkarot? No one is around for _miles_!" Vegeta snapped at the taller Saiyan, his anger dying down as he calmed down. Goku said nothing, instead opting to stare at the emergency door with hardened eyes. Walking up to it, he placed his hand on the metal, his eyes closing. Vegeta was about to snap at him when Goku suddenly bashed the door in, the sound echoing like a bullet in the empty parking lot.

"Vegeta, we need to move fast. The machine…it's killing her." Vegeta felt his heart skip a beat and he rushed through the doorway, the smell of blood instantly filling his nose. As if in slow motion, he slowly looked down and felt his veins ice over. Blood. So much blood. Everywhere. Her face, arms clothes, her… Vegeta didn't even want to see what she looked like underneath the giant piece of machinery. He felt his body begin to shake uncontrollably and he sunk to his knees, truly horrified.

Goku shook his head before eyeing the monster that was pinning Bulma down. Walking over to it, he wrapped his arms around it and heaved, struggling under its massive weight.

"Vegeta, lend me a hand! Hurry!" He shouted to the other Saiyan who was still sitting there in shock. Goku felt the machine begin to drop and he quickly transformed into Super Saiyan, his increased strength helping but only moderately.

"B-Bul…ma…" Vegeta finally croaked out, his gloved hand gently brushing her hair aside, blood soaking into the tips of the fabric. He had never felt so afraid in his life. Not when Frieza had easily defeated him, or even when Cell killed his future son and almost killed him. This was on a completely different level. The woman he cared about, _loved_, was lying in front of him in a pool of her own blood. _**Dying**_.

"_**Vegeta**_, drag her out from there, hurry! The machine is slipping!" Goku shouted, startling the Saiyan prince from his stupor. Not even sparing a glance at the other Saiyan, Vegeta carefully grabbed Bulma by hooking his arms underneath hers, carefully pulling her out. As soon Goku made sure she was out of the way, he jumped back and let the machine fall. The massive weight of it caused the ground to collapse underneath it, sending multiple large cracks darting across the ground like rampant spiders.

"Get out of here, Vegeta! Take Bulma to the hospital!" Goku barked as he began blasting away at debris that had begun to fall. Vegeta nodded, gingerly picking up his wife before heading towards the emergency door, looking back at Goku.

"Kakkarot, thank—."

"GO, VEGETA!" Goku roared over another explosion, the ceiling collapsing under the weight of the force. The older Saiyan quickly turned his head to Vegeta, sparing him a smile before the ceiling collapsed on top of him.

Vegeta felt his jaw drop. Goku had just _sacrificed_ himself in order for him and Bulma to escape. Resisting the growing urge to blast away the debris and rescue the other Saiyan, Vegeta turned sharply on his heel and blasted a hole through the parking garage, shooting out of the opening right as the entire building collapsed in on itself.

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

"How long has she been unconscious, dad?" An anxious Trunks asked as he watched his mother lie on the hospital bed, tubes upon tubes covering most of her arms. Her leg had been surgically fixed hours ago, and now it was residing within a thick white cast. Vegeta looked away from his wife's bandaged face to stare at his son with a blank expression.

"8 hours, 43 minutes, 24 seconds." Was his only reply. Trunks sighed heavily and slumped in his chair, his face white from all of the trauma.

Gohan and Trunks had rushed over as soon as they received the call from Vegeta, Chichi and Goten soon following. As the eldest son stood stoic against the wall, Chichi was bawling in the corner of the room, Goten attempting to calm her down only to burst into tears himself.

"Vegeta, a word?" Gohan asked the Saiyan quietly, leaving the room even before he got an answer. Standing up slowly, Vegeta walked into the hallway, noticing the eldest son was leaning against the wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"If it's about Kakkarot…" Vegeta started, not wanting to talk about it again. He already had to explain to that harpy in there that he was crushed. Dealing with his first child was already a pain in the ass.

"I think you're wrong, Vegeta." Gohan stated coldly, "There's no way my father would die that easily. You and I both know it. Now spit it out. Why didn't you help him out? All three of you could have easily made it out of there safely. So why—." Gohan was cut-off as Vegeta's fist slammed into his face, sending him skidding backwards across the bright laminate floors, blood trickling from his mouth.

"Either all of us died, or only one of us died. Do you really think your father would have allowed all three of us to die when he knew a way to spare at least two of us?" The Prince of Saiyans growled at him, clenching his fist even tighter, itching to knock some more sense into the enraged adult. Gohan looked stunned, his hand resting on his pulsating cheek. After a few moments, the demi-Saiyan stood and turned his back towards Vegeta. He began walking down the hallway when he stopped, looking over his shoulder with blazing eyes.

"I won't forgive you, Vegeta, for allowing my father to be killed. You may think he did it out of the kindness of his heart, but I can _guarantee _it only happened because of a mistake _you_ made." Gohan disappeared down the hallway, leaving Vegeta to stand alone in the hallway.

"Mistake…I made, huh?"

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

**Phew, the new version is up! Oh noes, poor Goku D: he'll come back. 'Cuz he always comes back to life…lol. I find it weird that he's always being sent back to Earth, but oh well. Doesn't matter! I feel much better about this version than the other one ^^ makes more sense! Haha. Enjoy this one! I'll try to update as soon as possible! School, work, physical therapy, and other crap always gets in the way lol **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hooray! I have time to update! Sorry about the delay, it's been a rough week. I quit my job; I'm trying to find another one, trying to start a project for my Video Game Design class….sigh, college life is VERY stressful. Any who, back to what this is supposed to be about. DRAGON BALL Z! I actually figured out what one of my presents was ^^ its seasons 1 and 2 of Dragon Ball Z! Eeeeeek! So excited! My parents should learn to wrap things better….Ack, sorry! Getting off topic. **

**So, apparently there's been some concerns with some of the scenes in the first chapter. Firstly, let's start with the part where Goku is lifting off the piece of machinery from Bulma's fallen form. I should have specified more on this last chapter, but it totally escaped my mind. The machinery is gigantic! Think of it like…200 feet long and wide, and about 100 feet or so tall. I mean, it's enormous! A walkway wraps around it in a wide circle (think of the area that holds the rocket in Half Life 2 Episode 2 if you've played it.). I hope you can visualize it haha, if not, sorry. But considering how big this thing is, you can probably imagine this thing weighs A LOT. And, of course, it does. Around 12 tons or so! You can see why Bulma has spent a lot of time at work haha it took forever to build the darn thing! But yeah, I hope that explains why Goku was having trouble lifting the large piece of machinery. I wanna say it weighed about 4 tons or so. About 8,000 pounds give or take. Secondly, was the concern that Goku died so easily. Believe me, this may be a Vegeta X Bulma fanfiction, but I love Goku so much I wouldn't have the heart to kill him off. I mean, he's the comedy relief! **

**Thirdly, Gohan's anger. You know what happens when Vegeta and Goku always go off to save the day or whatever. Goku ends up losing his life or nearly losing it because Vegeta isn't strong enough to stop the bad guy or whatever. Gohan was just tired of it and snapped. He's just having a bad day :P Okay! Enough blabbering! Onto the story now! **

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

Twenty-six hours. That was how long she had been unconscious so far. There was no movement. No new changes. Nothing. And frankly, Vegeta was getting sick of it. He grew agitated every time one of the nurses came into the room to check on Bulma. He growled and scared the latest one out, the door slamming behind her. Huffing, he turned back to stare at his mate. She looked so fragile, weak. He clenched his fist in frustration. Something happened in that lab that caused the explosion. And it was no accident. The woman wasn't stupid enough to cause an explosion like that to happen.

'Something isn't right about this…' The Prince of Saiyans thought as he crossed his arms over his chest, searching for an answer. A loud beeping noise startled him and he looked over at the machine that was producing the retched noise. A green line on the screen suddenly began to dip and rise dramatically, the numbers in the corner rising rapidly. The door burst open and a doctor and two nurses rushed in.

"Nurse, get the transfusion blood bags ready! She's going into hypovolemic shock!" The doctor shouted as he removed the needle from her arm and prepared another one with a yellowish hue to it.

"Sir, we need you to go outside right now. We have to get the medicine inside her body or else she's going to die!" One of the nurses, a young blonde, said frantically as she tried to usher the Saiyan from his chair.

"I refuse to leave Bulma alone, and that's _final_." He glared at the nurse who looked nervous. Before she could pester him again, the green line on the monitor suddenly went flat, the beeping noise even louder.

"Chest paddles, NOW!" The doctor shouted as he dropped the needle on the nearby table before crossing his palms and pressing them to Bulma's chest.

Vegeta's anger flared at the gesture.

"Get your bloody hands off my—!"

"We're losing her! Where are those damn paddles?"

"Right here! Setting up charge now! Level 3!" The other nurse, a middle-aged brunette, declared as she rubbed the two paddles together before pressing them to Bulma's chest. Before Vegeta could object to anything, the nurse pressed the paddles down and Bulma's body jumped up before flopping back down on the bed.

"Again! Kick it up another notch!" The doctor ordered as the nurse zapped her again, Vegeta watching with widened eyes as her body flopped back onto the bed. After a few more attempts, the beeping returned to normal, as did the green line gliding across the top of it.

"That was a close call. Let's be sure to keep a closer eye on her in case she goes into shock again." The doctor wiped his brow of the sweat that had formed and finished injecting the fluid into her arm.

"Sir, are you alright? I know things like this can be…hard to watch," The younger nurse said softly as she looked at Vegeta, her clipboard tucked against her chest.

"What…just happened?" Vegeta asked the nurse, not looking at her but instead watching Bulma's rising and falling chest.

"She went into shock, something that happens often when a person has a traumatic injury such as hers."

"No…with the screen…what was that?" The nurse gave him a funny look.

"That's a heart rate monitor. It measures a person's heartbeat. If it flat lines, just like hers did, it means their heart is stopping, and we need to get it beating again by shocking it back into a rhythmic beating."

Vegeta didn't answer and just nodded slightly, keeping his eyes glued to Bulma.

"I'll leave you two alone for awhile." The nurse said quietly before she followed the other nurse and doctor out of the room, shutting the door behind her. After a few silent moments, Vegeta let out a heavy sigh.

"Woman, you had better not startle me like that again, you hear me? I…don't know what I would do without you in my life."

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

"Man, this place is a _dump_," Krillin let out a low whistle as he stepped over the rubble that was once Capsule Corp. Gohan said nothing, instead searching for his father's Ki.

"C'mon dad, show me a sign, anything, that you're still alive." The demi-Saiyan whispered as he concentrated on finding his father's Ki. After a few moments, he let out a heavy sigh and continued walking through the rubble, looking at the remaining part of the building that still stood. The whole area had been taped off due to radiation concerns, but it didn't faze Gohan in the least. Krillin, on the other hand, was freaking out about the exposure to radiation.

"Oh man, what if I get cancer from this? I could lose all of my hair!" Gohan let out a strained laugh.

"Krillin, you don't _have_ any hair. Besides, I don't sense anything weird so we'll be fine." The short fighter just let out a small laugh, rubbing his bald head in embarrassment.

"Heh, oh yeah, I forgot. But seriously, Gohan," Krillin asked the demi-Saiyan, all joking aside. "Do you really think we can find Goku under all of this? I mean, that's a lot of concrete to go through. How do you know he…uh, well…?" The fighter trailed off as he noticed Gohan go rigid, his eyes narrowed at a figure emerging from a crater in the parking lot.

"Boys, what can I help you with today? This area is restricted to anyone except personnel and the FBI." The figure said as they stopped a good thirty feet from the two fighters, legs apart with their hands in their pockets.

"Then what's a person like you doing in here? It's too dangerous for a civilian to be here." Krillin said as he felt his nerves light on fire. Something about the man didn't feel right. Almost as if he knew they were coming here.

"You shouldn't worry about me, boys. But may I suggest you get _him_ out?" The figure moved aside to show a beaten Goku emerging from the crater, his skin covered in cuts and bruises while his right eye was slightly swollen shut.

"Dad!"

"Goku!"

Both fighters shouted in surprise and relief, glad their Saiyan companion was all right. Goku gave a weak laugh, grunting as he stood up.

"Hey, it's good to see you two! Oh man, am I hungry! How about we get some chow? I'm starving!"

Krillin let out a laugh and he and Goku began walking away, chatting up a storm. Gohan, however, remained rooted to the spot, eyes locked onto the man.

"Just who _are_ you?" The figure began to laugh, softly at first, before it morphed into a full-blown hysterical laughing fit.

"Dear boy, you'll find out soon enough. Possibly sooner than you expect,"

A strong wind suddenly picked up and Gohan shielded his eyes as dust began to attack him. As soon as it came, the wind stopped and the demi-Saiyan lowered his arms to find the man had vanished.

"What the…?"

"Gohan, what are you staring at? C'mon, I'm starved!" Goku yelled, bringing Gohan to his senses. He began walking back towards Krillin and his father but stopped and turned around, eyeing the demolished area with suspicion.

"Something's not right about this. And I'm going to do whatever it takes to find out what it is."

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

_Fire. Screams of agony. Explosions. Metal flying outwards in all directions. Bulma witnessed them all happen, over and over. She had lost count of how many times the nightmare had repeated itself. But in the end, the same person standing over her bleeding form repeated the same words. _

"_You're no true scientist, Bulma Briefs. You're just a phony who steals the work of her own pathetic father to gain fortune and fame. You are nothing but worthless scum who deserves to die." _

_Bulma always suffered a powerful kick to the head after the scene played. Twenty-three times it had happened. Or was it twenty-four? She wasn't sure anymore. All she was sure of was that she was in a living hell. _

'_Just who is that person? Why are they always trying to hurt me?' The woman thought to herself as she replayed the day of the accident, her helpless body lying in a pool of her own blood while fire raged through the deserted hallways of Capsule Corp. She heard footsteps and weakly turned her head to face the person for what felt like the millionth time. _

"_Just…who _**are** _you?" She asked before they could do their little speech again. Surprised, the person just crouched down in front of her, their hand brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen across her face._

"_Me? My dear, you don't need to know anything. But…I _will_ tell you one thing." Bulma felt the hairs on the back of her neck crawl as the person got right into her face, their familiar hair and eyes startling her. "You're going to regret ever knowing me." _

_Everything went black. _

Bulma jerked awake, her breathing heavy as her eyes wildly darted around her, fearing the person was standing over her, ready to kill. But after noticing she wasn't in Capsule Corp. anymore, she let out a ragged breath, wincing as her chest constricted painfully.

'Where…am I? Ugh, why do I feel like shit?' Lifting a hand, she noticed at least three different needles inserted into her skin, tape ensuring they stay in place.

"Mom, you're awake!" Startled by the sudden voice, Bulma blinked a few times before slowly looking over to see Trunks anxiously standing next to her bed, fists clenched in front of his chest as tears trickled down his face.

"Tr...un…k…s…" Bulma barely whispered out, her dry and raw throat preventing her from speaking properly. Barely able to contain himself, Trunks was about to launch himself onto his mothers body when a well-toned arm shot out and grabbed him by the collar.

"Boy, can't you see she's injured enough? You would just hurt your mother even more." Vegeta said sternly before placing the boy back onto the floor, crossing his arms back over his chest.

Trunks, now more cautious, grabbed his mothers hand instead and held it tightly.

"Mom, thank Kami you're alive! You've been out for almost two days now! The doctors didn't think you would ever wake up…" The young demi-Saiyan began to cry again and placed his head on the bed, cradling the needle-infested hand against his cheek. Feeling her heart ache at her sons crying, Bulma reached her other hand over, groaning inwardly at the pain it caused, and gently placed it on Trunks' head.

This just made him cry even harder.

Vegeta just watched silently, his dark eyes never leaving the face of his wife. Apart from the bandages, she looked almost back to normal. But her eyes…they had lost a lot of their shine.

'Most likely from all of the trauma.' The Prince of Saiyans decided in his mind, raising a brow as Bulma shot him a look.

"Ah, Bulma! You're finally awake, dear!" Bulma's mother, Bunny, cried as she rushed into the room, followed by her father and his cat.

"You've done a great job of watching over her, Vegeta. I'm proud of you, son." Bulma's father said as he patted the Saiyan on the shoulder before moving over to the bed to talk to his daughter.

"Hmph." Vegeta said.

After about ten minutes of talking, the doctor and one of the nurses from last time entered the room.

"Alright, folks, we need to re-examine Bulma to see how her injuries are. You can all come back tomorrow during visiting hours." As Bulma's parents and Trunks left the room, Gohan slipped in and stood next to Vegeta in the shadowed corner.

"What do you want, brat." Vegeta snarled as he spared a glance at Kakkarot's eldest.

"Vegeta, do you recall seeing a scientist with brown hair and black eyes anywhere near the building after it exploded?" Gohan spoke quietly, his eyes shut as he leaned against the stark white wall of the room.

"Why the hell would I? I had more important things to do than search for a stupid scientist." Vegeta snapped back, already frustrated with the eldest Son child. Letting out a sigh, Gohan opened his eyes and stared hard at the opposite wall, his body becoming tense.

"Krillin and I were there earlier, looking for my dad. I noticed him first, and then Krillin did too. He crawled out of a large crater that was in front of the ruins. He looked as if he was waiting for us to get there, Vegeta. Doesn't that strike as a little suspicious?" Vegeta just grunted, telling Gohan to stop asking questions and to continue. "He asked what we were doing there, saying it was closed off to personnel and the FBI only. But when I asked him what he was doing there, he said don't worry about it and moved aside to show my dad climbing out of the crater. When my dad stood up, it was as if he didn't even noticed the guy was there. Krillin and my dad began walking away, acting as if they never knew he was there in the first place." Gohan took a heavy breath, steadying himself for the next part. "I asked him who he was, and he just laughed, saying 'You'll be seeing me soon enough. Possibly sooner.' Then the wind picked up and he vanished, just like that."

Vegeta furrowed his brows, slightly troubled by the brat's story.

"Are you implying he has something to do with the accident?" The Saiyan said after a few minutes, eyes following the doctor and his nurse as they left the room, leaving them in silence once more.

"I'm not sure yet, but right now he's our only lead. I'm willing to bet he has something to do with the explosion. I'll keep searching for clues on the guy, but Vegeta; don't leave Bulma's side for a _second_. The slightest opening can give him the chance to finish the job for good." Gohan made eye contact with the short Saiyan before nodding and leaving the room, leaving Vegeta alone to ponder his thoughts.

"Veg…eta…" Quickly moving towards the bed, Vegeta looked at his wife with an eyebrow raised.

"What do you require, woman? You should be resting, not wasting all of your energy." Bulma looked as if she wanted to say more but just closed her mouth and rested her head back against the pillow. Grabbing a chair, the Prince of Saiyans plopped down in it and watched as Bulma reached her hand towards him, the movement causing the needles to yank on their tubes slightly.

Grabbing her hand carefully, Vegeta held onto it and stroked the needle-free skin with his thumb lightly.

"I…love you…Veg…eta…" Bulma muttered before falling back asleep, her chest moving up and down rhythmically. Letting out a small chuckle, the Saiyan let a rare smile dance on his lips.

"Silly woman, using the last of your energy to say such stupid words even though there's no need to say them. At least they're words only I can hear."

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

"Son Goku, how DARE you scare me like that? We all thought you were dead! AGAIN!" Chichi screamed at her husband as soon as he had entered the house, grabbing the sides of her dress tightly. Goku, raising his hands in defense, tried to laugh the whole thing off.

"Chi, it's fine, isn't it? I'm all right! And besides, if I hadn't have done that, then Bulma and Vegeta would never have survived the building collapsing." Goku shrieked as Chichi swung her arm back, preparing the smack him across the face. After a few moments of nothing happening, Goku removed his hand from his face to find his wife sobbing, her hands wiping away the tears that were falling down her face.

"You don't know how upset I was when I heard you were killed, Goku! How was I supposed to raise two kids with Saiyan blood alone?"

Taking a few steps, Goku reached out his arms and pulled his wife against him, resting one hand on the small of her back and the other on the back of her head.

"I'm sorry, Chichi. I shouldn't have been so careless in my actions. But I did it to save Bulma and Vegeta. If I hadn't, then all three of us would have been killed by the building. I guess I should just be more careful when I rush into something." Chichi looked up at Goku, surprise written all over her face as she studied him careful. His usual goofy expression was replaced with a more somber one, his eyes locking onto her own.

"Are you…" The former warrior started, reaching her hand up. "Feeling okay, Goku? You don't have a fever, right?" Placing her hand on his forehead, she found that there was no fever.

"I feel fine, Chichi. But I promise, from now on, I'll be more careful when I rush into battles, okay? Now then, what's for lunch?" His wife just sweat-dropped as Goku's face returned to its bubbly form.

"You come home looking like that, covered in blood and bruises, and the first thing that comes to your mind is _**lunch**_? Goku, what am I going to _do_ with you?"

Goku looked at her with a confused expression.

"Uh…feed me?" He said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Resisting the urge to smack herself in the face, Chichi let out a heavy sigh before walking to the closet, searching for the first aid.

"You could at _least_ bandage yourself up first, Goku. Honestly! Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of the floor? And off the furniture! Maybe I should just bleach everything in case…"

After almost an hour of wrapping, disinfecting, and putting away the medical supplies, the Saiyan was wrapped up and good to go.

"Hey, Chi, is it time to eat you? I haven't eaten in over a day!" Goku whined as he sat eagerly at the table, fork in one hand and knife in the other.

"Goku, if you keep bugging me about it, I'm going to give it all to Goten!" Chichi snapped as she piled meat onto a large plate before taking it over to the table and setting it in front of the starving Saiyan. Right as Goku was about to dig in, the door opened to reveal a very tense and serious Gohan.

"Hey, son! Just in time for lunch! Pull up a seat!" Goku spoke through a full mouth, splattering meat chunks at his eldest son. Sidestepping to avoid the chewed meat, Gohan waved to his mom before turning to his father.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Taking the muffled words as a yes, Gohan took the chair too the left of his father, folding his hands and setting them on the table in front of him.

"What's up, sport?" Goku asked as he swallowed his lunch, letting out a small belch in the process.

"Did you happen to see anyone who looked like a scientist when you dug yourself out of the debris at Capsule Corp.?"

"Hmm, I don't think so. I just remember waking up and then I just began to dig my way out. Nobody was there except you and Krillin when I finally got out. Why? Was someone there?" Goku looked confused, actually setting down his silverware in order to pay full attention to his son.

"Are you serious? You didn't see the guy in a lab coat standing right in front of you when you finally got out? Krillin and I noticed him almost immediately, but I couldn't sense a Ki from him. It was almost like the Androids," Gohan muttered the last part to himself, pondering the possibility that Gero created yet _another_ android.

"Hmm, nope. I just saw you and Krillin standing there, no one else. But how is it possible that only you two saw him and I couldn't? But if it is an Android, then we've got a serious problem on our hands." Goku stated thoughtfully, the food in front of him the last thing on his mind.

"But why would anyone want to hurt Bulma? She hasn't done anything wrong," Chichi input as she walked over to the table, drying her hands with a towel.

"_Because that scientist is no ordinary person." _A voice echoed in Goku's mind.

"Hey, King Kai! What's up?" The Saiyan said aloud, catching Gohan's attention.

"King Kai, you know about this person?" The eldest son asked the deity, his interest growing.

"_I'm afraid so, Gohan," _The normally bubbly blue deity said somberly. _"He's been causing trouble for centuries! Always blowing up things and killing thousands of innocent lives. But whenever I try to track him down, he always vanishes!" _

"Wait, centuries? You mean this guys been around for a _long time_?" Goku asked incredulously, unable to believe how long the man had been alive.

"King Kai, just how long has he been around? And why does he cause explosions in order to kill people?" Gohan intervened before his father could make another comment about how old the scientist was.

"_Hmm, the first time I saw him do something horrific was about…300, 400 years ago? That was one of _the_ worst explosions. Nearly took out three entire cities!" _King Kai exclaimed to the Saiyans.

"400 years ago? Man, he really _is_ old!" Goku blurted out, unable to help himself. Shooting him a look, Gohan focused on getting more information from the deity.

"How did the explosions happen, King Kai? Were they all related to machinery somehow?"

"_If I'm right, and I'm not sure I am because of how long ago it was, then it was caused by some sort of bomb that released a toxic gas that spread throughout the land. But for some reason, he was unaffected by it. Some people thought he was really a demon in disguise sent to eradicate the people of Earth. But for the other cases, it was said that he created some particle gun that disintegrated people on contact."_

The room was silent for a few minutes, two minds feverishly trying to connect the dots.

"Wait, I think future Trunks may have said something like this before," Gohan suddenly said, his thoughts traveling back to when he had the conversation with the older Trunks. "He told me a story about a mad scientist that killed any person who excelled past him in the field of science using some sort of deadly gun. The gun apparently shoots out a large beam of energy, and once it hits its target, completely breaks down the components of the body in a matter of seconds while also causing an explosion due to the particles of different matters colliding with such great magnitude; in other words, it causes the body to basically implode on itself."

"Do you think Bulma knows anything about this?" Goku asked his son, focusing his attention away from King Kai for the moment.

"I'm not sure, dad, but if she does, then that can help us find the guy and bring him down." Gohan said firmly, the thought of more innocent people dying stirring up the anger deep within him. "But the problem is, with what happened to her at Capsule Corp., I'm pretty sure she's gone into shock and won't be able to tell us what happened."

"So basically we have no way for sure if he's the one who did it?"

"Exactly. I think I'm going to go search the ruins of Capsule Corp. to see if I can find anything that can give us more clues about this scientist." Standing up, Gohan was about to leave the house when he felt a familiar presence waiting outside.

"Hey, Piccolo's here!" Goku cried happily as he bounded from his seat to greet the Namekian, Gohan barely moving out of the way of his father.

"Goku, Gohan." The stoic Namekian greeted in a monotone, his body leaning against a tree trunk.

"Piccolo, what are you doing here? It's rare for you to visit us," Gohan asked his former master, slightly confusion in his voice.

"I would have thought you would have known by now, Gohan. I'm here for one reason, and it has something to do with that nutcase Kai was talking about." He grunted out as he uncrossed his arms and stood up straight, opening his eyes to stare at the two.

"Do you know anything more than what you heard from Kai?" Goku asked his once enemy-turned-ally with a somber expression.

"Nothing more than he's an idiot who's mad over power and killing anyone who makes a better breakthrough than him." Piccolo responded before crossing his arms back over his chest. (Seriously, I think it's contagious because Vegeta does it, he does it, and Goku sometimes does it…okay, enough distracting :P)

"I've told Vegeta about it so he already knows all of what I know. But there's a lot more information we need before we can figure out why, or if, he did this to Bulma in the first place." Gohan turned to his father. "Dad, Piccolo and I can handle this. I think you should go talk to Vegeta and see if he's come up with anything else. I'll let you know what we've found out." And with that, Gohan and Piccolo shot off into the sky towards the remains of Capsule Corp.

"Goku, is everything all…right?" Chichi began to ask but stopped when she saw Goku watching the two retreating forms zoom across the sky. After a few seconds, he turned to face his wife, bubbly expression on his face.

"Yup, everything's just fine, Chi! How about you take Goten to go play with Trunks? I'm sure he'd love it!" Goku chirped out before walking past his wife and back into the house to finish his meal.

"Uh…sure, Goku." Chichi spluttered out before shaking her head and following Goku back into the house.

"Uwah, where did my food go!" Goku's cry echoed through the surrounding forest, startling the wild animals.

"Hey, dad! I got hungry and there was this large plate of food just sitting there! Great, huh?" Came Goten's voice as he let out a belch.

"My…my food…"

"It's your fault for leaving it out, Goku. You should know better than to leave food out when Goten's home!" Chichi chided her husband.

"But…it was so…_yummy_…"

"I can always make more, Goku…"

"Really!"

This time, Chichi allowed herself to smack a hand to her face.

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

**Sorry for the late update, I was planning on having it done by Christmas, but that worked out well…Hope you guys like this one! I know there's not much action in it, but that will come later! :D**

**Merry Late Christmas to all! 3 **

**Let me know if there is anything you're confused about and I will PM you and help settle the confusion! **

**~InuKagsLuver4Eva~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, sorry I haven't updated sooner. I've had this horrid headache thing for a week straight now, and not even prescription migraine meds work D:. But yeah, electronics made the pain worse so I've been off them for a while now, save for schoolwork. Okay, so with some of the reviews I've gotten, I just want to say this; this is _my_ story, in _my_ own way. It's not going to be perfect! If I want Vegeta to be in a shocked state and not know what certain medical equipment is or get furious over someone trying to restart Bulma's heart by touching her boobs, then I can do so. I know some people can get the characters and everything else spot on, but you know, this is what makes me different from other people. I use my creativity to change my stories up so they're not _exactly_ like the series. Phew, now that _that's_ out of the way, let's continue :3. **

**Big, big, big, BIG, awesome thanks to BlueFlower1594 for being a SUPER AWESOME REVIEWER! Have a cookie! –Gives cookie-**

**Also, thanks to XDarkAngelOfLoveX for pointing out my flaws in the first chapter and practically forcing me to make better version XD you're awesome for making me do that! **

**Well, then, let's get onto the story!**

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

"_You have failed me, Dr. Benson. You were to exterminate Bulma Briefs __**at**__ Capsule Corp., not allow her to escape!" _An angered voice hissed from the center of the dark room, the light above casting a menacingly large shadow across the floor. At the edge of the lights rim stood a shaking figure, upper body bent low in a pathetic bow.

"I-I'm sorry, Master...s-she somehow...escaped the explosion! It was that _blasted_ Saiyan of hers! He and another man somehow found her right before the building collapsed and rescued her." Benson felt his blood boil the more he spoke of the Saiyans.

"_Then who was the remaining man when the building finally __**did**__ collapse?" _The voice suddenly boomed, startling Benson who jerked upright so suddenly he fell back on his behind. Scooting back using his hands, the now white scientist looked up in fear as the towering form of his master stood above him, eyes glowing bright red.

"Ah...I...she...uh..." Benson spluttered out, his words lodged in his throat along with the feeling of pure and utter fear. Losing his patience, the man known as master, shot out a hand. Upon sheer instinct, Benson crossed his arms in front of him and secured them over his face, his hands tightly gripping the back of his head. After a few frightening and heart pounding seconds, the shaking scientist cautiously moved an arm to peer up at his superior.

A sudden strange feeling circled his head and he felt his mind go blank.

"_Since you are too scared to tell me, _Benson_, I guess I will just...probe...your mind for the answers." _The master said quietly as he released his power, a transparent blue bubble encasing Benson's head.

Images flashed by; _Benson had showed her the new particle gun before she had hurried off to finish her own experiment. He called in Emily to sound the alarm for a radioactive leak in the entire wing. As soon as she had left, he had grabbed the particle gun and left his room. As every scientist in the wing filled the hallway, he fired. Bodies burned on impact with the large energy ball, their remains fluttering to the ground in black ashes before disappearing all together. Again and again he fired, killing every scientist in his way as he progressed down the hallway. His eyes were filled with excitement as he let out a continuous cackle of glee. As he neared Dr. Briefs' lab, he saw Emily peeking her head into her room, warning her about the leakage. Noticing the chemical cart he placed against the wall, he aimed at the edge where the wall and floor met. The enormous force of the blast had crisped Emily to a pile of nothingness, sent a powerful shockwave into the lab, and had sent a vial of Lithium into the damaged lab. Little did Dr. Brief's know, Benson had entered her lab earlier and messed with her experiment, adding highly unstable Nitrogen into the main pipeline connecting to the main components. As he sidestepped into a side corridor, it wasn't long before the explosion happened. He let out a snicker as he watched Bulma Briefs fly from her lab, chunks of her hard work smashing through the walls and down the hallway after her. Satisfied she was done for, Benson slipped down the side hallway and made his way to the service elevator near the maintenance. Slamming his fist against the open button, he slid the gun into the small metal space before closing the door and hitting the down button. As the winch whirled to life, Benson quickened his pace as he headed towards one of the emergency exits as smoke quickly began to fill the building. Hearing the sirens and panicked screams, he burst through the last door and breathed in clean air. The news team was already on the scene, filming the devastation behind them. As he prepared to walk by, the interviewer recognized him and rushed over to him, microphone out and camera rolling. After giving a short and irritated answer, Dr. Benson headed towards the woods where an agent was waiting for him to bring him back to the hideout. The next day, Benson had returned to the scene of the crime, searching for his hidden particle gun. Jumping lightly over the jagged chunks of concrete, the scientist made his way to where his beloved weapon was awaiting nearly over a mile beneath the surface. Benson had secretly built an entire lab beneath Capsule Corp. to work on his larger, more dangerous projects such as the deadly Fazer Gun. The gun was actually deadly enough to wipe out nearly half of the Earth with just one blast! Benson knew that already, of course. He had tested a small version in some remote part of the world. He estimated that around ten thousand to twenty thousand people were turned into steaming corpses. Not that he had minded it; he had been near tears from laughing so hard at their misery. Shaking his thoughts from his murdering days, Benson stopped directly where the elevator had once stood. Smirking, he raised a hand, blasted away the debris covering a secret entrance to a stairwell, and began to climb down when he spotted something orange and blue. Curiosity pecked at his mind and he hesitated a moment before making his way over to the bright colors. _

'_Probably just something from the locker-room...' The scientist thought as he crouched down and pulled on the fabric, frowning when it seemed stuck to something. Moving aside some heavy blocks of concrete with ease, Benson felt his blood begin to boil when he realized it was one of the men who had rescued Bulma. Examining the man over, a sinister thought came to his mind. What if he could use this man to get that pesky Vegeta out of the way? Allowing a sinister grin to creep onto his face, Benson unburied the man and sat him against the remains of a wall, facing both of his palms towards the unconscious man. Right as he began to charge up his power, voices stopped him in his tracks. _

"_Man, this place is a **dump**." A voice whistled out, the sound of debris crunching from the parking lot. Snatching his hands, Benson stuffed them into his pockets before slowly making his way towards the sound. It sounded like another person spoke but it was too quiet to hear. _

"_Oh man, what if I get cancer from this? I could lose all of my hair!" The same voice spoke again, stopping the scientist. _

"_Krillin, you don't__have__any hair. Besides, I don't sense anything weird so we'll be fine." A second, deeper voice responded, letting out a strained laugh. Benson took this chance to move closer to the two, his expression blank as he stood still at the edge of the debris. Right as he stopped, he placed a spell over himself to prevent from being seen by the newcomers, just in case. _

"_Heh, oh yeah, I forgot. But seriously, Gohan,"_ _the first voiced asked the other young man with him._ _"Do you really think we can find Goku under all of this? I mean, that's a lot of concrete to go through. How do you know he…uh, well…?" The person named Krillin stopped and Benson opened his eyes to see the person named Gohan staring intently at him, his eyes narrowed._

_"Boys, what can I help you with today? This area is restricted to anyone except personnel and the FBI." Benson stated to the young men, his eyes locked onto the one name Gohan. _

_"Then what's a person like you doing in here? It's too dangerous for a civilian to be here." Krillin said his body tensing up as if preparing for a fight._

_"You shouldn't worry about me, boys. But may I suggest you get__him__out?" Benson said as he moved aside to reveal the bruised and bloody man from a few minutes ago. _

"_Dad!"_

"_Goku!" _

_Benson watched as the man now dubbed as Goku just laughed and grunted as he dragged himself to his feet. _

"_Hey, it's good to see you two! Oh man, am I hungry! How about we get some chow? I'm starving!" The man named Krillin began chatting it up with Goku as the two walked away. However, Benson stayed rooted to the ground as Gohan stared him down, confusion in his eyes. _

"_Just who **are** you?" Was all he asked, causing Benson to begin laughing; softly at first, until it was a full-blown hysterical cackle, his head thrown back to face the skies. _

"_Dear boy, you'll find out soon enough. Possibly sooner than you expect," Kicking up a powerful wind, the scientist ensured the young man was temporarily blinded before fleeing to the forest, his plan to grab his project in jeopardy with so many people around. Once he was sure he was in the clear, Benson cursed loudly before slamming his fist into a nearby tree, the wood shattering like glass. _

'_Damn, how am I going to tell master the plan failed? Tch, better come back at night for the gun.' Shaking his fist out, Benson quickly made his way back to the lair to face the wrath of his master._

The master removed his hand and waited for Benson to return to his senses, already fully aware of the entire story.

"_I see. Benson, do you know if the Prince of Saiyans is related to the man you found in the rubble?" _Benson stilled seemed out of it so with a powerful swing, he slapped the man across the face, sending him skidding across the slick floor.

"W-what was that for, Master?" Benson cried out as he cradled his throbbing cheek in his hands, his mind clearing instantly.

"_I asked you a question, Benson. Do you know if the Prince of Saiyans is related to the man you found in the rubble?"_ The powerful man snapped out, hating to have to repeat such a simple question. Rubbing his cheek, Benson thought for a moment before responding.

"I'm afraid I don't know—wait, don't you already know if he is, master? I mean, you've been watching the events on Earth for a very long time." Benson suddenly said as he turned his eyes on his master.

"_Maybe if you would shut up, I would get to that part!" _The master snapped, sending Benson scurrying backwards a few good feet. _"That man, Goku, he is indeed a special specimen if he survived a building collapsing on him."_ Benson suddenly got the hint.

"If Goku survived the building collapsing on him, then that must mean—."

"_He is actually a Saiyan, yes. I have tracked their kind for many a years, watching as their planet was demolished, the small Goku landing on the Earth, and eventually the Saiyans named Nappa and Vegeta crashing into this ball of dirt to destroy life." _The master filled in, knowing all too well the history of the once strongest race in the entire Universe.

"So, Master, what shall we do with the Saiyans? Kill them all off at once or perhaps kill them one by one, slowly and painfully?" Benson asked excitedly, the pain in his face fading at the thought of killing the remaining nuisances.

"_Silence, you fool! Bulma Briefs is our main concern right now!" _The master barked out, his menacing aura back once more. _"Her inventions could be the key for me to finally unleash my true power, the one that was locked away many years ago by her bastardly father!" _

Benson just nodded in agreement, fully aware of the accident that locked his master's power away for many years.

Dr. Briefs had been working on a powerful machine that could send objects from one location to another in the blink of an eye. With the way current technologies were, this would have created a whole new level in the field of science. His master had once been part of the elite scientists at Capsule Corp. taking part in the new discovery. Everything was set up and ready to test, Dr. Briefs setting objects in one side of the device while having the team stand at the other end to receive the items. The machine whirled to life as the codes were punched in, flashes of light emitting from the first portal as the particles heated at an incredible rate. Right as the portal was about to transmit the items, his master had noticed a single wire had wiggled free from its casing and was sparking dangerously. So, being the scientist he was, his master had calmly reached into the device to tuck the wire back into its casing when the entire machine exploded in a ball of flames.

Dr. Briefs was the only survivor that day and Benson's master had sworn to get his revenge after he barely escaped with his life, his full power stored within him for decades. But now that Bulma Briefs had taken after her idiotic father, the time for revenge was near. But there was a slight problem; it seems one of the most powerful Saiyans was mated with the woman, meaning there was rarely a time he wasn't there with her. And now that the building had exploded and Bulma was in the hospital, the window for revenge was slimming faster by the day.

"I shall go plan for the next steps of revenge, master. I won't fail you this time, I swear it." Benson declared as he got to one knee and bowed deeply before backing away into the darkness, leaving his master to stand alone under the single light. Turning, the master walked back over to his chair and plopped down, letting out a deep sigh.

"_Just wait, Bulma Briefs, I'll have you experience things __**much**__ worse than death itself." _Maniacal laughter filled the empty void as the single light bulb flickered before bursting, plunging the room into darkness.

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

"You find anything, Piccolo?" Gohan called out as he wiped the sweat from his brow, stepping back to examine his handiwork. He had been toiling away for hours removing debris and trying to find any clues as to why the events happened the way they did.

"Nothing more than what you've found, kid." Was Piccolo's gruff response from a good thirty feet away, his arms crossed over his chest as he tried to sense anything out of the ordinary. So far nothing had come up, and their efforts seemed to be in vain.

"I doubt we'll ever find anything in all of this rubble," The demi-Saiyan muttered with a sigh, his body aching from all of the heavy lifting. As he moved towards Piccolo, the ground beneath him suddenly gave way, plummeting him downwards.

"Gohan!" Piccolo yelled as he dashed to grab his former pupil, his hand outstretched towards Gohan.

Gohan crossed his arms over his face as debris rained down over him, his body falling further down than ever thought possible.

'Just how deep is this hole?' Twisting his body, the demi-Saiyan placed his wrists together and moved them back, preparing a Kamehameha to stop his fall.

"Ka...me...ha...me..." Gohan chanted, his energy charging up in his open palms. "Ha!" The infamous blue beam shot from his hands, shooting through the blackness. After a few moments though, the blast still hadn't hit anything to prevent his falling.

"Gohan, don't use such a reckless attack! Are you trying to make this whole place collapse?" Piccolo shouted as he flew after the eldest Son child, his cape fluttering loudly behind him.

"Piccolo, do you see a ledge or anything? There's no way this hole is this deep!" Gohan moved his hands out in front of him as he concentrated on flying. Piccolo floated to a stop next to Gohan, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hmm, I'm not seeing anything for a good few miles. Doesn't this strike as a little strange?"

"Yeah, I know. There's got to be something down there if this hole goes on for at least a few miles." Gohan agreed as he watched the last of the Kamehameha vanish into the darkness, leaving the two fighters with limited sight.

"Well, don't just stand there. We're going down there." Piccolo grunted as he flew down the hole, Gohan right on his heels.

**#~Edge of the Forest~#**

Benson had been making his way to find his hidden weapon when he spotted the man named Gohan and another person, a Namekian he was presuming by the skin color.

'Blast it all to hell! Why is that pesky child here once more? I may as well finish him once and for all.' Ensuring to hide behind a large, conveniently placed boulder, the scientist reached into his pocket and pulled out a smaller version of the Fazer Gun, aiming straight for Gohan. Right as he was about to fire the gun, Gohan appeared to have fallen down, the Namekian rushing after him. Sprinting from his hiding spot, Benson clambered over concrete chunks and melted pieces of machinery before stopping at the edge of the newly made hole. Looking down into the depths, Benson grimaced at the never-ending darkness. The cavern must have been made when Bulma's research project had blown up. Looking around to see if anyone was watching him, Benson leapt in and was instantly swallowed by the darkness.

"Where are we? It's pitch black in here!" Gohan mumbled as he trailed his hand along the oddly smooth walls, an energy ball in his other hand, lighting the dark tunnel.

"Just shut up and keep moving, kid. Something about this place doesn't seem right," Piccolo grunted back, his crossed arms seemingly always glued over his chest. After a few minutes of silence, the demi-Saiyan spoke again.

"Hey, Piccolo, I think I see something ahead of us." Peering ahead, the Namekian squinted his eyes, a shadowed form standing at the end of the long tunnel. Uncrossing his arms, Piccolo became stiff as he tried to sense if the shadow was human.

"Anything I can help you with, gentlemen? You must have fallen a long ways down from the surface." A feminine voice said sweetly, her form becoming visible as she moved from the shadows. Apart from the strange markings on her face and arms, she looked like a normal human woman. A pair of white work pants flowed down over a pair of black heels. Her shirt was a ruffled blouse with a lab coat thrown over it, making her clothing a bit off looking. She had a slight smile on her face as her teal eyes danced with amusement.

"A-a _woman_...what is a _woman_ doing way down here?" Gohan blurted in surprise, covering his mouth when Piccolo shot him a glare. The woman just let out a laugh that was like tinkling chimes.

"I work at Capsule Corp., of course! I'm just doing my daily round of checking the fluid levels in the machinery." She chirped before placing her hands behind her back and bouncing on her heels, waiting for their response.

"You survived the explosion? How is it even possible you're alive?" Piccolo asked the mysterious woman, his mind telling him to turn tail and run.

"Explosion? What are you talking about? There hasn't been an explosion in just over thirty years!" Giggling, the woman just bounded over to the two, her face right in Gohan's. "Why would you say such a silly thing, you silly, silly boy? Come, I'll show you around Capsule Corp.!" Grabbing his hand, causing the young Gohan to turn bright red, the woman dragged him into the lab, Piccolo straggling behind a few feet. As soon as the woman and Gohan turned the corner, they vanished into thin air, leaving a startled Piccolo.

"Gohan, what happened? Where did you go?" Searching the cavern, the Namekian found no sign of anyone having ever been there. "Something's not right about this. I have to find Gohan."

The woman continued to drag the flustered Gohan behind her, her heels clacking loudly against the tile flooring.

"Um...if you don't mind me asking...where did Piccolo go?" Gohan asked nervously, not liking how his old trainer just suddenly vanished.

"Oh, don't worry about that! He probably just went to examine the machines." The woman giggled, her grip on Gohan's wrist tightening considerably. Noticing it, the demi-Saiyan stopped short, nearly causing the woman to fall flat on her face.

"Where did Piccolo go? Answer me!" The woman hesitated a few moments before slowly turning to face him, her eyes dark.

"The Namekian was unable to pass through the barrier I placed as soon as we turned the corner," The woman's voice had turned cold; her once bright eyes turned a dark maroon color. Instantly on guard, the demi-Saiyan snapped his wrist from her grasp and leapt back a good distance.

"Just who are you?" Gohan demanded as he slid into a fighting stance, his dark eyes trained onto the woman in front of him.

"Tch, demanding one, aren't you? Well, I guess there's no helping it now." The woman sneered before slipping her lab coat off, revealing intricate black lines from her collarbone to her wrists. Every line began to pulsate as she moved her arms in front of her, crossing them with her palms facing Gohan. "Laser powering up to 45%...52%...89%...100% power-up complete. Destruction in 3...2...1..." A large ball of energy began to expand rapidly in the woman's hands, aimed directly at Gohan. Leaping out of the way, the demi-Saiyan barely made it into a side hallway as the blast incinerated the entire hallway.

"What the heck was that?" Gohan cried out as he scrambled to his feet, hearing the woman making her way down the hallway towards him.

"I am called Fazer Gun, the deadliest weapon ever created by my master, Dr. Benson." Fazer Gun said, her voice coming from behind Gohan. Without having the chance to turn around, the demi-Saiyan was slammed through the walls as Fazer Gun shot another beam of energy.

"There's no use in running, you silly boy. This is my territory now and I can do as I wish. Now, prepare to die!" Gathering up another energy beam, Fazer Gun aimed to fire the finishing blow when a booted foot slammed into her face, sending her flying into the next room.

"P-Piccolo, right on time..." Gohan chuckled before coughing up blood, his head falling back to rest on the wall behind him, his eyes closing.

"Stay with me, Gohan. I'm not carrying your corpse out of here, you're carrying yourself out." Piccolo growled out as he grabbed Gohan by the shirt and dragged him to a stand. Gohan swayed a little before finding his balance, his breathing heavy.

"Yeah, guess that...attack took a lot out of me. So, what do we do about her?"

"Mind filling me in first?" Piccolo asked as he crossed his arms over his chest, watching the hole where the woman smashed through.

"Basically she's a walking death machine," Gohan panted out, wiping a streak of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Something called a Fazer Gun. Said some person named Dr. Benson created her. I'm starting to think if he's the one who's created this machine..."

"Then he's the one who blew up Capsule Corp. and killed countless lives." Piccolo finished the sentence, eyes hard as the woman/machine emerged from the man-made hole.

"You have made a grave mistake, _Namekian_. Prepare yourselves!" Fazer announced as she raised her hands above her head, her stance wide as her body glowed a bright purple.

"I think that will be enough, Fazer. I'll take things from here." A deep voice interrupted, causing the two fighters to whip their heads to face the newcomer. Fazer promptly dropped her hands and bowed deeply before turning back into her perky alter ego.

"As you wish, Dr. Benson. I shall take my leave now. Bye, cutie!" Fazer giggled as she blew Gohan a kiss before hopping over the debris and making her way down the hallway. Grinning, Benson turned his attention to the two boys and instantly felt a scowl replace the smile.

"Did I not warn you about coming here, boy? You've just dug your own grave," Benson snarled as he removed a vial from his lab coat. "Have fun in Hell, bastards!" With a powerful throw, Benson smashed the vial on the floor and jumped back a few feet as black smoke began to fill the area.

"What is this stuff?" Piccolo cried out as he covered his mouth with his arm, pushing Gohan back out of the way.

"Enjoy the paralyzing gas, _Gohan_. As soon as you're fully paralyzed, I'll use you as bait to lure out that damn Prince of Saiyans, Vegeta. As for you, Namekian, I have no use for you so I'll just kill you off now."

Piccolo just scoffed and darted at the scientist, fist pulled back and ready to slam into Benson's face.

"Hmph, do you really think a weak attack like that will defeat me?" Piccolo said as he swung his arm forward, making contact with the scientists face. But instead of sending the man flying through the hallways, he barely budged an inch. Shocked, the Namekian drew his fist back and took a few shaky steps back. Tilting his face back to where it was moments ago, Benson let a maniacal smirk creep onto his lips.

"My turn now?"

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

**Argh, I wanted to have this done three days ago! I was hoping to have it done on my birthday but I guess that didn't happen :(. But oh well, its here now and that's all that matters! Sorry it's a little shorter than the other chapters, but I'll try to fill it up with author commentary. So, this story has now taken a drastic turn! Buh buh buh! No Bulma in this one, I'm afraid. But never fear! She'll be in the next chapter and make everything better! Okay, maybe not, but you get what I'm saying. Any questions so far? PM me and let me know! It may be a few weeks or so to get the next one up due to a huge project I'm doing for Game Design class. We're making like an _actual_ card game that if we finish it on time; we're going to have the dean of the college actually pay for the game to have it officially sold in the college's bookstore! I'm so excited about this! Well, minus the part that I have to make the drawings LOOK amazing, and well, I'm still a noobie on my Bamboo tablet lol. But, I shall try my best in order to have this game available to the public! Hooray! Okay, no more stalling and wasting Word space :P. Have a great time until I update again! Probably going to update some other stories, as well as start thinking about writing another DBZ story called Disease. I have WAY too many stories already! Having more ideas is bad for me lol. Hope you enjoyed this! **

**Oh, one last thing! If you guys love Fullmetal Alchemist, I IMPLORE YOU TO GO SEE THE NEW MOVIE COMING TO THEATRES! I'm pumped for it because it comes out in 6 days in Nebraska! Search for the times and go dress up to see the movie! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry times one million! I've been so busy with working so much and getting ready for a con that I've forgotten my fanfictions D: I was going to put everything on hold, but since I have some time since I'm off work for a few days, I thought I would update. So, last time, Piccolo and Gohan ran into some serious trouble with a deadly weapon named Fazer Gun, created by none other than Dr. Benson! Will they survive? Only I will know! Mwuhahahah. Okay, enough evil laughing; time for DBZ! 3**

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

"What do you want, Kakkarot? I'd rather not see your ridiculous face right now," the Prince of Saiyans snapped as he returned to the hospital room only to find the younger full blood sitting in his chair next to Bulma's bed. Goku oddly remained silent for a few moments before getting up and walking past the shorter Saiyan, his face unreadable.

"Vegeta, come with me a minute, would ya? It's important." Goku said quietly, not waiting for an answer as he exited the room and into the hallway. Turning sharply on his heel, Vegeta walked back out and shut the door quietly behind him before facing the stoic Saiyan.

"What is it that you want, Kakkarot? Your idiotic son was here earlier to inform me about some whack job scientist." The short Saiyan growled, his fuse growing shorter with each passing second as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Gohan was here earlier? He never told me," Goku muttered to himself, eyebrows scrunching up momentarily before his face became neutral once more. "That's not the point right now. King Kai contacted me a while ago giving us some info on this scientist. What he told us isn't good, Vegeta. This guy is a mass murderer who needs to be stopped." Goku said gravely, his anger showing in his charcoal eyes.

"Do you have any idea where he's at?" Vegeta asked briskly, his attention now fully on the younger Saiyan, eyes hard. Goku shook his head and let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his messy locks.

"No, but Gohan and Piccolo went back to Capsule Corp. to look for any clues leading to what happened yesterday. I haven't heard from them so they must still be looking." Goku suddenly stopped and stiffened, his head whipping in the direction of the Capsule Corp. ruins. Vegeta noticed the movement and looked in that direction, expanding his Ki out to figure out what had Goku so alert. After a moment, the Prince of Saiyans located Piccolo's Ki and Gohan's. But something was wrong. Gohan's Ki was dropping...fast.

"They're in trouble, Vegeta. I bet it's that scientist. Let's go!" Goku said as he placed two fingers on his forehead and reached out to grab his friend. Vegeta slapped his hand away and glared hard at Goku.

"Do you honestly think I would care about the life of your useless son, Kakkarot? In case you've forgotten, Bulma is severely injured and scared out of her fucking mind. I have no reason to—."

"Vegeta, this man tried to _**kill**_, Bulma," Goku suddenly shouted, his aura flaring dangerously around him. "Are you going to stand there and tell me you won't take revenge on that? That you're going to let this man continue to try and kill her?"

Not one to be out-shouted, the Prince of Saiyans drew to his full height, squared his shoulders and drew in a deep breath. Right as he was about to lash back full force, Goku placed two fingers against his forehead and vanished without a sound.

"Damnit, Kakkarot, I wasn't finished with you yet!" Vegeta shouted into the empty hallway, earning alarmed glances from some nearby nurses and patients. Letting out a low growl, Vegeta stomped back into Bulma's room, loudly slamming the door behind him. Fuming, the Prince plopped angrily down into his chair, his narrowed eyes glaring out the window. Who did Kakkarot think he was? No one dared to raise their voice at the Prince of Saiyans unless they had an early death wish. Vegeta barely noticed as his son reentered the room, his small arms full of assorted drinks and foods.

"Hey, dad, was Goku just here?" Trunks asked through a mouth full of bread as he sat on the corner of Bulma's bed, making sure to take up as little space as possible.

"Don't get crumbs all over your mother. And whether Kakkarot was here or not is none of your concern." Vegeta snapped as he motioned Trunks off the bed, snatching a bag of chips from his son before inhaling them in a second flat.

"Sorrwy," Trunks mumbled as he scooted off the bed and sat on the floor next to his father. After swallowing the bread, the young demi-Saiyan set his food down on the floor and looked up at Vegeta. "Dad, is mom gonna be okay? I mean, the accident was pretty bad..."

"Your mother is a stubborn woman; she'll get through it just fine. She survived being on planet Namek, didn't she?" Trunks' father snapped at him, his emotional guard slamming back up. The Prince of Saiyans wouldn't let his guard down anymore; not in front of his son, not Kakkarot, and certainly not around the person who tried to kill Bulma.

"Please, I barely survived Namek, Vegeta. Thanks to Goku and Frieza's battle, I barely made it out alive. Luckily, Gohan rescued me." Bulma croaked out from the bed, her dulled eyes staring blankly at the wall.

Trunks shot up off the floor and leapt towards his mother, preparing to glomp her when a hand shot out and jerked him back to the floor.

"What did I tell you about doing that?" Vegeta growled under his breath, glaring down at the demi-Saiyan.

"It's alright, Vegeta. Trunks come here..." Bulma opened her arms as Trunks latched onto her tightly, his sheer strength causing her to wince. "It's alright, I'll be fine. No need to cry, Trunks." That just made him cry even harder as she stroked his back.

"How are you feeling?" Vegeta asked quietly, locking onto his wife's face and looking into her hollow eyes. Bulma blinked a few times before turning her head to look at her husband, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Tired but that's nothing new, is it? I heard Goku a little while ago, you two were arguing." The Prince of Saiyans just crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes.

"What that imbecile Kakkarot and I were talking about is none of your concern, woman. Your only concern is to get better."

"I do care what you two were talking about, Vegeta. If it has something to do with Dr. Benson trying to kill me, then I **need** to know. You don't know what he's capable of with him being a scientist. He was the second greatest scientist, right below me," Bulma held up a needle-infested hand to silence her husband before he could retort. "I know the reason why he wanted to kill me. He was jealous, plain and simple. I always got recognition for the greatest inventions while his were always labeled as useless and destroyed. He won't stop until he has his revenge, Vegeta."

By now, Trunks had fallen asleep on his mother, his arms still wrapped tightly around her waist. It was still too early for the nurses to come in and check on her so the scientist relished the few minutes of silence with her family nearby. Vegeta momentarily left to grab a bite to eat and the room became almost too quiet for Bulma's liking.

"I hate worrying Vegeta like this..." Sighing heavily, Bulma ran a pale hand through her greasy locks, grimacing at the feel of her hair. "Ugh, I need a shower..."

"Honey, your hair looks fine just the way it is." A woman's voice giggled from the doorway.

"Chichi, I didn't notice you come in! Normally Vegeta would have come streaking back, but I guess he knew it was you." Bulma mused as her friend came in with a large bouquet of assorted roses in a vase.

"I figured with the boys out of the house I would come give you a visit," Chichi explained as she set the vase on the small table next to Bulma's bed, rotating it until she deemed it perfect.

"I appreciate the visit. It's been very boring being here being prodded by needles and relentless doctors," Bulma laughed dryly, flicking her wrist in the air.

"I'll bet. Goku would have freaked out and sprinted out of this hospital as soon as they said the word needle," Both women laughed at Goku's fear of needles, the much-needed laughter clearing up the silence of the room.

"I wonder where Goku went, actually. He and Vegeta were arguing earlier but I couldn't really catch why. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good." Bulma frowned at the thought of her childhood friend being seriously injured for the sake of finding her attacker.

"Don't worry, Bulma, Goku can take care of himself. But he strangely came back with serious injuries and wouldn't tell me how he got them..." Chichi murmured under her breath, wrapping her arms around herself for comfort. Bulma felt the breath leave her lungs. Goku coming back with serious injuries and not telling his wife how he got them? That was unlike Goku. The scientist suddenly felt weak, her whole body feeling numb while her head spun.

"Chi, y-you don't know..." Chichi looked at her friend in alarm, her eyebrows creasing in concern. Sitting in the chair next to her, she grabbed Bulma's hand and squeezed it.

"Bulma, what don't I know? Tell me, please."

"Goku risked his life to save her, that's where his injuries came from." Vegeta filled in suddenly, his buff form leaning against the doorframe. "The building collapsed on him as I was pulling Bulma from the wreckage. If he hadn't been in his Super Saiyan form, he may not have survived at all."

Chichi suddenly felt weak, her body slumping onto the bed, her hands still clutching Bulma's as she began to sob.

"Vegeta, you didn't have to say it so bluntly! Oh, Chichi, I was going to tell you..." Bulma cooed to her friend as she stroked her hair, glaring daggers at Vegeta who just shrugged off the glare as if it was a fly.

"Why w-wouldn't G-Goku tell m-me about almost d-d-dying?" Chichi wailed into the bed, her bawling waking Trunks up.

"Wuz happenin'?" Slurred the demi-Saiyan, rubbing his eyes as he sat up only to find Chichi slumped over on the bed. "What happened to her?"

"None of your business, Trunks," Vegeta hissed at his son. "Goten is in the cafeteria, go play with him or something." At the mention of his friend being close by, Trunks perked up and was soon sprinting down the hallway shouting for his best friend.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're truly heartless, Vegeta." Bulma said tiredly as she continued to comfort Chichi whose wailing wasn't waning the least.

"Hmph."

~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~

"W-what...kind of monster _**are**_ you?" Piccolo grunted out as he clutched onto his damaged arm. The Namekian was no match for Dr. Benson's immense strength and speed.

"Why, I'm just your regular class 'A' scientist, of course." Benson snickered as he stepped over Gohan's unconscious form, drawing a needle from his lab coat in the process.

"Don't flatter yourself, creep. You're nothing more than a low life minion for your master. Am I right?" The Namekian smirked as Benson's face fell into a deep scowl.

"That's none of your concern, _**Namekian**_. You should worry more about your life than what my master has planned." As the scientist inched closer to Piccolo, the Namekian suddenly ripped off his injured arm, letting out a scream of anguish. Dr. Benson jerked to a stop, his face in utter shock and disgust as the now severed arm plopped to the ground.

"Ha...ha...haha what's wrong, _Dr._ Benson? Feeling a little sick?" The Z fighter taunted as he gripped his armless shoulder. It would only take a few seconds for his arm to regenerate, but that probably wasn't enough time to keep Benson distracted. Benson seemed taken aback, but soon recovered his posture before lowering the needle to his side.

"That's..._remarkable_! I never knew the Namekian's had regenerative powers!" Dr. Benson awed over the useless arm on the floor, crouching near it to study its genetics. Before he could even touch it, a boot connected with his face and sent him flying back into the wall, the force leaving an indent in the concrete.

"Should have paid more attention to the battle." Piccolo hand gripped his shoulder harder as his arm prepared to regenerate, an almost agonizing heat rushing through his shoulder and chest. Keeping his eyes locked onto Benson, Piccolo focused his energy on pushing his new arm through. Immense heat pooled at the opened wound as Piccolo's new arm suddenly burst out, green slime splattering to the floor. Grunting at the pain, the warrior rubbed the area where the new limb excreted from, experimentally flexing his fingers.

"You simply must tell me how you are able to do that," Benson exclaimed as he sat up, a steady stream of blood trickling down his face. "Or I could always find out after I kill you by dissection." Piccolo turned around only to come face to face with the mad scientist. In a flash, a fist collided with the Namekian's stomach, sending him sailing across the room.

Using his highly honed reflexes, Piccolo rebounded off the ground with one hand and slid back a few feet. Cracking his knuckles, he leapt forward, vanishing from sight only to reappear behind Benson. Right before his foot could connect, a hand grabbed his shoulder and yanked him backwards, his balance faltering.

"Nice of you to finally show up, Goku, it's never a party without you." The Namekian smirked as he brushed the dirt from his attire before crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's not much of a party today, Piccolo. Where's Gohan." It wasn't a question.

"Against the wall over there; he's not doing good Goku. Benson here released a paralyzing gas that only affects Saiyans. Not to mention he has a secret weapon that blasts powerful beams that can kill a lot of people with a single blast." Piccolo informed the Saiyan as he turned back to Dr. Benson.

"Oh ho, you've been paying close attention, haven't you? Then you would have noticed that the needle I had earlier is now lodged into your left arm." Benson's smile became sinister as Piccolo located the now empty syringe and yanked it from his arm, smashing it on the ground.

"Do you honestly think you have anything potent enough to stop me?" Piccolo sneered as he dashed forward, fist coiled back and ready to smash in Benson's face.

"Have a nice nap, Namekian." Dr. Benson snickered before sidestepping the attack with ease, hands in his pockets. Piccolo staggered forward, his balance suddenly lost. The room seemed to spin around him in a blur of colors, his feet tripping over one another as he stumbled to regain his balance.

"What...what did you inject me with?"

"Oh, nothing really, just a very heavy sedative that will put you to sleep for at least two days," Benson chuckled at his own ingenious creation. "But I must warn you, there's a high chance you won't ever wake up after the first thirty-two hours. It's a very potent chemical indeed."

Piccolo grunted as he slumped against a wall, his vision swimming as he fought to stay conscious.

"Piccolo, keep your eyes open as long as you can! I need you to stay with me for awhile!" Goku shouted from across the room as he checked Gohan's wounds, his eyes narrowing in on Dr. Benson. Piccolo coughed a few times, his eyes struggling to stay open.

"Get Gohan...out of here, I'll be fine..." The Namekian rasped out, sudden extreme exhaustion threatening to plunge him into a deep sleep.

"I'm not going to leave you here! Just stay with me for a few minutes longer!" Goku shouted as he stood up, facing Benson with a menacing aura.

"I wasn't expecting to see you again, Saiyan. I had figured you perished when Capsule Corp. collapsed." Benson stuck his hands in his pockets and gave Goku a grin.

"What are you talking about? Vegeta, Bulma and I were the only ones there when it collapsed."

"No, my dear Saiyan, I'm not talking about the actual _collapse_, I'm talking when you woke up in the carnage. Your..._son_...and his friend were the only ones to notice me. I guess I should be glad." The scientist's smile suddenly turned into a scowl. "I'm afraid it's time for me to leave, but next time, Goku, we will finish this once and for all." As Benson turned to leave, he suddenly found the tall Saiyan blocking his path, his expression dark.

"I suggest you stay here and finish our little chat." Benson swallowed heavily, the aura emitting from Goku sent a shiver down his spine. Taking a few steps back, Benson reached into his coat pocket again, but before his hand could grasp the second needle he had prepared, the Saiyan snapped his arm back and pinned it against the wall.

"Don't even think about it," Goku warned, his eyes filled with anger. "You're going to tell me everything that happened and what you're hiding. But first, what did you do to Gohan?" Pressing the scared scientist further against the wall, the Saiyan waited impatiently for an answer.

"I-it's just a temporary toxin that paralyzes the nervous system; he should be fine within a few hours!" Satisfied with the answer, Goku loosened his grip, but kept Benson pinned against the wall. Looking at the now unconscious Piccolo and Gohan, the Saiyan turned his attention back to Benson.

"Who do you work for?"

The scientist hesitated the slightest bit before whispering. "I can't tell you about my Master, he can read my thoughts and see all of what I've done. I will tell you that he is planning something big, something that involves Bulma Briefs and the Saiyan race. That's all I can tell you, now please, let me go before my Master finds out what I have told you and kills me!" Benson began to squirm violently, sweat covering his body as fear racked him.

Goku released him after a few moments of studying his face.

"What kind of man is this Master of yours? Where is he located now?"

"A very, very powerful man is what he is. He has been around for an extremely long time and has observed everything from the beginning. I may as well tell you where he is located considering my life is in danger now. He dwells in a cave deep inside the woods." Benson began to look extremely nervous; his body twitching at the thought of his master finding out what he was telling the Saiyan.

"I must go now, but please, take my Fazer Gun to aid you in your battle. It's the least I can do after…well, blowing up Capsule Corp. and injuring a lot of people…including Mrs. Briefs…" Benson scuffed a shoe against the ground as he avoided eye contact with Goku. Before he could even glance up, a hand fisted into his shirt and lifted him into the air, his legs kicking wildly.

"You're the one who blew up the building and injured Bulma?" Goku asked as he lifted the scientist to eye level. Dr. Benson swallowed hard to hide his fear, terror still evident in his eyes.

"I-I apologize! I was ordered by my master to do it in hopes of killing the Prince of Saiyans! B-but I honestly was forced to do it! Please don't hurt me!" Benson cowered as much as he could while dangling in the air, his body attempting to curl into a ball.

"Who exactly is your master and what does he want with Vegeta?" Goku asked the petrified scientist, his hand clenching his lab coat even tighter.

"P-please don't hurt me! I just do as I'm told! He's watching us right now, so I may as well tell you everything while I can." Benson lowered his voice, his eyes shifting from side to side. "My master was injured by Bulma's father many years ago after his prototype teleportation machine exploded. His anger has been building up all these years and he has been waiting to capture Bulma to force her to create an invention that will help unleash my masters' true power, a force that will eradicate all life on Earth as we know it."

"What exactly is his true power?"

"It's a scary force indeed, stronger than anything you've seen. His power is—." Before Benson could reveal what the destructive power was, he started violently twitching, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he gasped for air. Goku dropped the scientist and jumped back, watching as the man died violently in front of his eyes. Steam erupted from his mouth as bloody foam poured from every orifice, his insides being cooked to the point of liquid. With a final breath, Dr. Benson exploded into a steaming pile of melted organs and flesh, the secret of his masters' hidden powers gone with him.

"W-what just happened…?" Goku stuttered as he held an arm over his face, the stench almost unbearable. He searched for any signs of Ki levels but couldn't find anything. Now wary, the Saiyan grabbed his comrades before blasting away from the area, his mind racing a million miles an hour.

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

"Master, what should we do now? The Saiyan is suspicious of us, he could a join the other Saiyan and find us." The Master slammed his fist onto the arm of his throne, a deafening echo bouncing around the cave.

"_That damn Benson ruined everything! I never should have trusted a low life human to do my dirty work. Kaito, I want you to create a diversion to_ _lure the Saiyans away from Bulma Briefs, but make __**sure**__ to get Vegeta far away from her. Do I make myself clear?_" Kaito saluted his Master loyally.

"I won't let you down, Master! I'll blow up the entire city if I have to!"

"_Get going then, and_ _**don't **__mess up like Benson._"

Kaito bowed before vanishing into thin air, leaving the powerful lord alone in the dimly lit cavern.

"_You will be mine, Bulma Briefs, even if I have to kill the Prince of Saiyans to do so._"

**#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#~#**

**I am so sorry about not updating sooner! I really haven't been in the writing mood due to stress about jobs and being an adult and stuff. I promise to start updating more often and maybe even starting a new story! (Probably not going to happen since I've only finished one story lol) But Hope you enjoy this! I know it's short, but better to leave on a cliffhanger than to keep it going and going. **


	5. Urgent Author's Note

I am so sorry to let everyone know this, but my laptop (my SECOND one) has decided to crash and not let me use it. I apologize for this and I will try to get it fixed, but it's not looking too good right now. Even Windows crashes and that's not good at all…

BUT good news is that I have Word on my desktop so I can work on the stories here if I can manage to get them off of my other computer. So please bear with me a little while longer until I can get everything sorted out and fixed.

~Inukagsluver4eva


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